After Himmel turned Hölle
by Thornsword
Summary: it's a year after the bombing in Himmel Street and Liesel is attending a different school, believing Rudy dead. the only thing she regrets is not telling Rudy how she felt. Fate can be cruel, but fate can be kind. LeiselxRudy AU


**Hey guys!**

**I gotta say, this one basically wrote itself so expect a few grammar mistakes and/or spelling mistakes.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the amazing book by Markus Zusak**

**Let's face it. Books kill everyone you love. **

Liesel Meminger was a mystery. Yes, she might seem like a normal 15-year-old schoolgirl who had friends and was quite smart but no one knew anything about her past. She entered school in the middle of the year and was secluded, as if she was hiding something close to her heart that she never wanted to let go.

Soon she made friends, but if any one of them would ask about her past, she would stiffen up and swiftly change the subject, not wanting to relive the memories of bomb-kissed lips and pajama-clad bodies lined up on the road.

Today seemed no different from yesterday, as yesterday had closely resembled the day before last. Todays were always deceiving though, they liked to pull tricks on you, just as yesterdays preferred to stay just that. Yesterday. Liesel was walking through the front gates of her school, talking with the small group of people she called friends.

Like any other teenage girl in a unisex school, the conversations usually ended up somewhere near the topic of romance. "I wonder if you'll get any more letters today, Liesel?" Ida asked with a giggle, there always seemed to be one courageous soul who gave Liesel a letter, proudly withholding a passage of affection for her.

Liesel rolled her eyes, she didn't really care for those pink-papered letters, as her heart was still with the lemon-haired boy who died when Himmel Street rejected its name.

**** A fact Liesel missed ****

**She was not the lone survivor that day.**

"You're just wishing Erich would give _you _one, saumensch" retorted Hedy. Ida huffed but her mouth was quick to form a smirk, one hidden with mischievous tendencies and a threat to embarrass.

"You must like _one _of them Liesel" she said, the smirk still playing on her face "at least half the boys in school have given you love-letters so by default you must like one."

Liesel looked at her friend with the kind of expression you would give a child when you found her hand in the cookie jar. "Believe me, I don't like any of the boys here and I don't think I ever could."

Now even Hedy was interested, hoping that for once they might hear Liesel's backstory, but she would not give anything away. "Why?" she asked, her voice nonchalant. Liesel's eyes dropped to the ground.

Maybe it was time to tell them. She sat down on one of the many wooden benches that littered the school grounds like leaves in the fall.

"The place I lived in before I came here was a street called Himmel Street." She started, careful not to mention anything about how she got to Himmel Street in the first place "I lived with my papa who loved to play the accordion, my mama who could be very strict and my best friend, Rudy, or, as he liked to call himself, Jessie Owens."

So the Book Thief told her friends about her life at Himmel Streel, carefully leaving out the fact that Max was a Jew, instead opting to say he was a close relative who came to stay, she also left out the actual thievery she and Rudy used to do, telling them that the books were lent and the apples were bought.

She told them about the bomb shelter and the times her father played his accordion to lighten the mood, even the one occasion on where she herself told a story to pass the time. She wove the tale of her life, her voice steady and strong until she got to the very event that turned Himmel Street into Hölle.

Her voice cracked and a tear rolled down her cheek. She furiously wiped it away, she hadn't cried about it in a month and she certainly wasn't starting now. Liesel could easily see her friends' worry. Worry at what could make Liesel Meminger, the mystery girl, cry.

**** Why todays are deceiving ****

**Between Liesel finally telling her friends her past and the lemon-haired boy walking through the school gates, I'd say today is quite unlike yesterday.**

After Liesel had finished her story, Ida and Hedy hugged her and promised they wouldn't tell anybody. "Do you still love him?" Ida asked quietly, not wanting to break the flood gates that Liesel was working so hard to keep in place.

Liesel nodded. "Of course I do." She said, smiling softly.

"In that case" a familiar voice said behind her "how about a kiss, saumensch?" Liesel's eyes widened and her body became stock-still.

_It wasn't possible._

Liesel slowly stood up, the bell rang, Hedy and Ida quickly walked off to class, but she didn't care. Liesel slowly turned around to face the person she thought she would never see again. To see the person she loved more than anything.

"Rudy…" she whispered, hands rising to cover her mouth in surprise. The 16-year-old boy smiled in response and held out in arms.

Leisel ran towards him, crying. She threw her arms around him and locked him in a death grip. Rudy returned the gesture by softly and warmly wrapping his arms around her small frame.

"If this is a dream, I'll kill you myself Rudy Steiner" Leisel muttered, making him chuckle. When she pulled away, she cupped his face in her hands and scanned his face, as if noting down all the things that had changed.

"So, saumensch? How about that kiss?" Rudy asked once again, his arms still around her waist. This time, there was no joking around, no avoiding the subject and no brushing it off.

Without words or hesitation, Liesel quickly closed the gap between them, despite the difference in height, and planted her lips on his.

The kiss was short and sweet and filled with a years' worth of _I missed you_'s. All that mattered to Leisel was that this time around, his lips were not cold and lifeless, but alive.

Rudy and Leisel left the school and walked to the nearest park, shoulder to shoulder, hand in hand. They sat down in the shade under a tree. Liesel leaned into Rudy and he pulled her closer by wrapping one of his arms around her.

Leisel looked up at him, their faces slowly drawing closer together until Rudy brought his lips to hers once again. This kiss was different from the ones they had shared before, both not wanting to let go. Leisel tangled her hands in his hair as Rudy's arms pressed her up against him.

The need for oxygen became too great and they broke apart, resting their foreheads together. "Say it again" Rudy whispered. Liesel looked at him, confused. Rudy understood that she didn't realize what he meant, so he whispered "I love you, Liesel Meminger."

Liesel smiled, brought him into a hug and whispered in his ear "I love you to, Saukarl."

**** Something you most likely anticipated ****

**The Book Thief and her Jessie Owens lived happily ever after.**

**Meh. That could've been better but I was determined to make it over 1000 words.**

**Sorry if I dragged it out.**

**And to all those waiting on chapter 17 of the Unexpected Meetings: sorry for making you wait but I have hit some serious writers block.**

**Please R&R!**

**Cya!**

**Thornsword.**


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